Man charged with assisting terror group in Somalia

[Jacaylbaro]

New York, 8 March, 2010 (AP): A man brought from Nigeria to New York faces charges that he assisted a terrorist organization that tried to destabilize Somalia and targeted U.S. interests. Charges included conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, Al- Shabab, lessons in making bombs, and he was found to possess bomb-making instructions in Nigeria in November 2009. He was brought to the U.S. on Saturday.

 

Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed awaited an initial court appearance Monday in federal court in Manhattan after an indictment against him was unsealed. Prosecutors said that they believed that the defendant was a citizen of Eritrea and a resident of Sweden. The US State Department has been critical of Eritrean government’s role in ongoing war in Somalia.

 

The U.S. has accused the Eritrean government of supporting and arming Al Shabab. Al Shabab, which means “the youth” in Arabic have waged a bloody battle against the Somali government, which is backed by the African Union and Ethiopia.

 

The indictment said he traveled to Somalia last April to receive jihad training at a paramilitary camp belonging to Al Shabaab. The group has been designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.